Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-11-05
then replacing them after they had run


then replacing them after they had run
il back. This trouble was all caused 10y
two rails getting loose at the Joint. An
other story they tell Of Mr.. Wills is even
more remarkable. He was sitting ono
day on the right side OF his cab, his hand
on the throttle and his elbow resting on
his knee, when suddenly, without an in
stant's warning, he was hurled through
the window and struck head first in the
snow. His train went about third of
q mile and stopped Mr.. Wills rose and
followed after. He met the conductor
coming towards him, who asked il he
had jumped. He replied 81 don't
know got ont all right, any way" II
seems that the side rod, the rod connect
ing the two large drivers, had broken in
the middle, and one end of it, whirling
suddenly over and sticking in the ground,
had thrown the cab mp on one side with
a quick and violent jolt. Mr.. Wills. rs
he went ont OF the window, instinctively
and without knowing that he had done
it, had shut off the throttle and applied
the brake. The fireman was thrown
violently across the cab, and one side of
the cab was demolished by the flying
pieces Of the broken side-rod.
One of the most common experiences
of an engineer is running into animals.
"Of course, said O knight of the throt-
tie last evening to little group Of ladies
sitting on sofa in the Palmer House
parlors, eve are so used to riding on an
engine it doesn't seem strange TO us.
But tell you. you let the brayest man
get on one in foggy or stormy night,
and go plunging through the darkness,
not knowing what minute he might run
into something, it would make his heart
beat faster, to say the least. Now, if
one OF you ladies -" Pshaw " inter
rupted a pretty little woman in a
black silk, "Ive rode with my hus-
band hundreds of miles, and run the en-
CINE, too" "'So've J." said another.
"So'ye /, said another. "So've !,
chimed in a chorus. Il was going to
tell, " said the speaker, as soon rs this
little tempest had subsided, chow was
running at the rate of thirty-fve miles an
hour, near West Liberty, Ia. Right
near me were two horses on the track.
Horses are the mcnnest things in the
world to encounter. They always run
right ahead of you, and don't jump of
one side. Right ahead of me was a
bridge. knew if | slowed up ! would
strike them right on the bridge at aslOw
rate Of speed and probably be ditched.
| hoped to catch them before they
reached IT, so | didn't slack up at all.
caught them right on the bridge, and
lifted them right ont of it. dropping one
on each side. At another time ! was
taking the pay car aud special with a
small engine. On bridge hight ahead
stood woman. | did everything q man
could DO to stop, then olinched my teeth
and waited The engine struck her and
she shot straight mp into the air about
twelve feet, and then was thrown about
sixty feet Was she dead - some
one asked Dead rs she will be ten
years hence" was the grim reply. OF
all the experiences which the engineers
relate, snOw-ploughing seems to be the
one most dreaded They are gone some
times week, plunging through
/ the snow, at times entirely covered
by an immense dnft When the
surrounding cold cools off the
steam the engine comes to stop whore ii
happens to be" dies " On some roads
it is customary to pay by the mile, whether
/ the track is clear or covered with snow
drifts. One engineer tells of being ont
in the snow for twenty-four hours and
receiving thirty cents for his work. A.
D. Springer halls from Colorado. He
took the first train over Veta Pass, eigh-
ty-fve miles south OF Pueblo, on the
Denver and Rio Grande. The snow
there lies frequently in winter five feet
on the level and drifts into banks TWEEN
ty-fve or thirty feet deep. The train
operators are often engaged filty-slX
hours at a time ploughing snow. Their
food in such cases is brought them on
snow. shoes. 81 have been on such an
OCCASION" said Mr.. Springer, twenty
hours at a time without eating"